


Into The Basement

by PublicMood



Category: The Binding of Isaac (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - High School, Angst, Coming of Age, Demons, Epic, F/F, F/M, Foster Care, Horror, M/M, Madness, Magic, Psychological Horror, Romance, Some Humor, Teen Romance, loosely based on the game
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-06
Updated: 2020-05-15
Packaged: 2021-03-02 17:22:30
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,865
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24030511
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PublicMood/pseuds/PublicMood
Summary: Isaac and his friends encounters a demon, who has grave news. The world will be destroyed by a great evil residing in the basement of an abandoned building. While the group traverse the many horrors residing in the underground, they discover the parts of themselves which they fear.
Relationships: Azazel/Isaac (Binding of Isaac), Cain/Judas (Binding of Isaac), Eve/Samson (Binding of Isaac)
Comments: 4
Kudos: 21





	1. Prologue: Her Ramblings

The five-year-old Isaac lay on the floor, hiding inside of his toy chest, as his mother yelled at nothing in particular. Maybe what she was screaming at were the voices in her head. Isaac didn’t know, and didn’t quite care, because what worried him most was her maddening screeching. It hurt his developing ears badly.

At that moment, Isaac missed a lot of things from the past. He missed his sister, who used to play with him. He missed the old home that his family lived in before the incident. Most of all, he missed his dad. Not long after his older sister died, his father left him and his mother to fend for themselves. He didn’t know where he went, but the disability checks and alimony were barely enough to put bread on the table.

What was worse was that his mom’s schizophrenia was getting worse by the day. He didn’t understand what was happening. There were days where she spent the entire day watching Christian television and watching conservative talk hosts on Fox News. Some days, she screamed at Isaac, blaming him for his sister’s death.

He didn’t even know how his sister died. And he didn’t want to think about it. All the toddler could understand were ramblings about a basement in a house that they didn’t live in anymore. He didn’t even remember if there was a basement where they used to live. He thought it was a part of his imagination. He thought that Lilly was playing a prank on him, until he found her dead and expressionless body, cold as clay, sitting motionless in the corner.

Ever since that, his mom always blamed him for both the small things and the big things that went wrong. From the divorce that hit them hard, to things as small as trying to read the first Harry Potter book. Her paranoia rubbed off on Isaac in the worst of ways, making him incredibly antisocial. In fact, Isaac was an expressive kid, that was, until his mom went mad. He tried making her happy with illustrations of the family together again. It made things worse. It made his mom scream at him even more. His idealism slowly deteriorated until he couldn’t be happy anymore.

More screaming was heard from Isaac’s mom, this time outside of the house. Isaac heard footsteps near his door, then he heard it squeaking open.

Sometimes, Isaac would imagine that he was a hero, fighting against the monsters of his own fears. However, he couldn’t fight back his own tears. They went everywhere, splashing around the chest as he whined and writhed around. 

The toy chest opened up, and a caseworker looked down at the traumatized child, tears in the kid’s eyes. The small boy looked up at the caseworker, trying to dry up his eyes, maybe to give the illusion that he was okay. He wasn’t.

Isaac would be removed from his mother’s custody, and would not understand why his family fell apart in the way it did until many, many years later. On one fateful day...


	2. Dungeons And Dragons

Lost in his own thoughts in the high school classroom, Isaac stared out the window, reflecting on his past. He was perfectly content with how his life had gone ever since leaving his mother. The family he lived with were great people, and he appreciated his younger sister, Maggy. He just wished he knew what his mother was up to. Despite the trauma that he still held, he missed her. Her disappearance wasn’t very well known outside the small town they used to live in, mostly because she was a recluse, but he wished he knew what happened to her.

As a kid, Isaac never understood why life had thrown so many obstacles at him at such a young age. But that was about to change. He thought at the time that once he graduated from this high school, he could move on to bigger and better things, like making video games.

Isaac stared out the window as the seventh-hour trigonometry teacher tiredly tried to teach them. The clouds outside moved at a snail’s pace, covering the green grass from the warm embrace of the Sun. Other than the overcast sky, dotted in gray, it was a pleasant day. The wind wasn’t as strong as it usually was, and Isaac saw multiple birds laying in a nest on a tree. Isaac thought, much like those birds, he would soon spread his wings and fly.

“Hey Isaac,” Cain Cassidy whispered, trying to get the beanie-wearing teen’s attention. Isaac glanced back at the glass-eyed boy sitting behind him. Cain says that he lost his left eye in a fight with his cousin at a young age. “Are you going to the game club today?”

“Oh, yeah. I will.” Isaac quietly stated. “Maggy is going to be there too.”

“Didn’t take her for a DnD player. Did you teach her?” 

“Yeah, but I learned from the best.”

The bell rang loudly, signaling the end of another tedious school day, and the beginning of the real fun. Isaac and Cain started to leave the classroom, along with the rest of the class, most of who Isaac didn’t know. He usually kept to himself, doodling in his notebook. He wouldn’t even have friends if it weren’t for his foster parents telling him to stop being so shy. Eventually, they felt so concerned that they set up a “playdate.”

That’s how Isaac became friends with Cain, who he already knew from his elementary school. The playdate was awkward at first, but they had a lot in common. Isaac learned about Dungeons and Dragons from Cain, who taught him the mechanics of the game. He even gave him some dice. They were red and black dice, which he still owned and kept with him. Sometimes, when Isaac felt anxious or didn’t know what to do, he rolled the D6 to decide. He had Cain to thank for that.

As young teenagers, the friends that Isaac and Cain made from school created a rickety treehouse in Cain’s backyard. That was where they would hold their DnD sessions, since the state they lived in was religious, and it was likely that any chance of a DnD Club being passed would be shot down. They were surprised that the treehouse had stayed so stable after around three years, but they weren’t complaining.

… 

When the duo arrived at the treehouse, there were already quite a few people there. A Fez wearing kid holding a large book and dangling his legs on the edge of the treehouse greeted the duo. His name was Judas Gomez, a video game coder, future valedictorian, and overall smug cunt.

“‘Sup?” Judas said.

“Not much,” Cain responded. “Any new people?”

Judas snarked, “If you had eyes, you’d know that we do, in fact, have new people here.”

“Shut it, Judas!” Cain retorted.

“Yeah, whatever. Maggy bought someone from her cheerleading class, and the boy is here as well.”

“You mean Eden?” Isaac said. 

“Is that what he goes by now? For fuck’s sake.”

Cain held back a myriad of different thoughts that rushed to his head, all insults of Juda’s religion, and it took everything in his power to refrain from commenting.

“You probably shouldn’t misgender them,” Isaac said. “They wouldn’t like that.”

“So what?” Judas said. “It’s not like he’s going to care. Besides, he wants us to keep his identity a secret, after all.”

“I guess,” Isaac said. “Just don’t be so rude about it, alright?”

“Okay,” Judas responded.

“Do you think that we should start a new quest entirely, since there are about three new people here?” Cain said.

“Yeah. Don’t want to leave these noobs in the dust, if you know what I mean.” Judas bragged. 

“Don’t say noob. It makes you sound like a nerd.” Cain said.

“Does a nerd have a spellbook of ancient rituals from long ago, because if so, call me a fucking nerd.” The book Judas was talking about, the one that he was holding, was on eBay for sixty dollars, and was allegedly from back in the days of the Roman Empire. It was called ‘Damiano Innoxia Transcriptio Scriptor’.

“I don’t think that book is authentic.” Isaac retorted.

“Well, no shit, dipshit!” Judas said. “It’s a gag book! I read it for fun! And I’m not going to summon any demons with this book, because DnD has a bad enough reputation with the cold-blooded crocodile motherfuckers in this county.”

“Don’t worry!” Cain stated. “I don’t think you have the ability to do so, even if it was a real spellbook.”

… 

A girl with blonde, curly hair, and an emo looking girl wearing grayish-black clothing and black eyeliner were having a lighthearted conversation about bands that they liked.

“Ever heard of American Football?” The emo girl asked.

“Yeah, but I still need to listen to their debut,” the blonde responded. She glanced at her brother Isaac. “Hey bro. Hopefully you don’t mind that I invited a friend.”

“It’s all good,” Isaac said, looking at the emo girl. “My name’s Isaac, and I’m Maggy’s sister.”

“My name’s Eve. Pleased to meet you.” Eve held her hand out, which Isaac shook. “To be honest, I’m just here because I need some space from my boyfriend.”

“Oh?” Maggy asked. “You mean Samson?”

“Oh yeah!” Isaac said. “I think I know him.” He hadn’t seen him much recently, but Samson used to be Isaac’s bully in elementary and middle school. He stopped bullying, not because he was a good person, but because he had been too occupied with his high school’s football team. “I have some really awkward memories with him.”

“You mean gay moments?” Eve said. “I knew that his masculinity was a front.”

“What? No!” Isaac’s panicky voice exclaimed. “Maggy, you’d know if I was gay!”

Maggy giggled, “I dunno. You have your moments...”

_ “You have your moments...” _

Suddenly, the feeling that Isaac commonly felt, that of eminent sadness, returned, as it usually did. He had a flashback to when he was four, and had to get dressed up as a girl to relieve his biological mother’s stress. He didn’t remember why, but he remembered that it made his mother feel better about his existence, and the pace of his breathing intensified. 

“Oh crap!” Maggy gasped, noticing Isaac’s eyes beginning to fill up with tears. “I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean it like that!” Maggy grabbed her brother’s trembling hand.

“No,” Isaac said. “It’s okay.” Slowly, his body ceased to shudder, and he wiped his eyes. He noticed Eve watching Isaac, staring directly in his eyes. “It’s alright. Sometimes I get sad.”

Eve noticed something in the glint of Isaac’s tears, so she looked behind her. Judas was holding his book close to him, looking in their direction.

… 

Nearby, a white-haired teenager was mashing buttons on his Switch, and it was obvious that something was on their mind, aside from the game. Cain was surprised that the person had arrived today, as they had missed the previous meetings. Their parents were the religious type of parents. The types who looked down on games like Dungeons and Dragons. The types who looked down on people like Eden, who feared that if they ever told them the truth about themselves, then they would be shunned.

“Hey there Eden.” Cain greeted. “Glad to see you here.”

Eden jumped up, brought out of his immersion by Cain’s voice, and looked up from his Nintendo Switch. “Oh, hey there Cain.” The enby teen said. “Didn’t see you there. Hehe. I bet you didn’t expect to see me around, huh?”

“I’m really glad you’re here.”

“Thanks. Ironically, by being someone different, I feel like I’m finally about to start being myself.”

“So your parents finally stopped caring about DnD, or did you sneak your way here?”

“My parents have come around to the fun of die rolling a little bit. Just wish there was a way to tell them that…”

“Hey.” Cain interrupted. “I don’t want you to feel like a piece of shit today. Just have fun, and don’t worry about them.”

Eden smiled at this statement. “Thanks dude.”

…

After some greetings and words were exchanged between those who attended, Dungeon Master Cain Cassidy gathered everyone around and began a brand new (albeit very short) session. The dastardly thief Robin Banks (yes, seriously) stole the Amulet of Kings, and it was up to a ragtag group of misfits to stop him. It was kind of like Suicide Squad, but medieval, and not shit.

They traveled through a dungeon with many traps, twists, and turns on their way to the bastard. Along the way, they slew various demons and goblins defending the runaway. The newbies struggled initially, but by the end of the evening, they had finally gotten the hang of it. They almost didn’t want to stop, but alas, it's a school night, and with the sunset on the horizon, everyone left the treehouse.

...

Before he and Maggy left Cain’s house, Isaac had a bizarre conversation with Eve.

“That was really fun!” Eve said. “I’ll definitely try and convince my Sammy to come over here.”

“Uh, yeah..."

“Actually, I wanted to ask you something really important.”

“Yeah. What do you need?”

“If you don’t mind me asking, what happened with you earlier?” she asked. “You looked like you were tearing up.”

Isaac dodged the question. Nobody really needs to know his secrets. “Uh, I dunno if I wanna talk about that one. Sorry.” 

“Wait! I saw something in your tears.” 

Isaac had turned around to leave, but he paused and turned at the way she pronounced ‘tears.’ He didn’t know why though. She didn’t even say it in a very strange way. “What do you mean by that?”

“I saw my own reflection in them. It was surprisingly clear, like I was looking in a mirror. I just thought that it was weird.”

“Oh,” Isaac said awkwardly. “I guess that is weird. Did you notice anything else?”

“Yeah. I also saw Juda’s book, and it was opened. But when I looked back, the book was closed.”

“Uh, okay?” Isaac responded. He wasn’t sure if Eve was telling the truth, considering he just met her, but he had a gut feeling that she was for some reason. “That’s strange.”

“Hey Isaac!” Maggy yelled, leaning against the front door. “It’s getting really dark out. We should go soon.”

“Okay,” Isaac said. “Well, I’ll see you around here at some point.”

“See ya!” Eve said, waving.

…

In the darkness of his room, only illuminated by his flashlight, Judas read from the pages of his tomb of a book. He had been enamored by the book ever since it had arrived in the mail. When he wasn’t at school, or coding, he was reading from this book. Who wrote it? A schizophrenic madman from the middle ages? A person on eBay trying to get a few bucks from their ramblings? Regardless, it was an entertaining read, at least to Judas.

_ “Listen to what I saw in my visions, for the Lord has gifted me sights from the future. There shall be a time in which Hellfire will sweep the air, and those who shoot tears from their eyes will need to attack the monstrosities from the basement. They will be led by a demon with goat hooves for feet and bat wings, cast away from the dark depths and caverns of this planet. Only those with the ability to harm by crying will be able to see him.” _

The rest of the writing on the page was in Latin, which Judas could not read.

“Heh. What even is this garbage?” Judas chuckled, turning to the next page, which was also mostly in Latin, aside from two sentences.

_ “Many monsters and humans will die, yet the only hope for this world is a family of three. One will die a terrible death, one will go mad in their grief, and the last may save us all.” _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It looks like I quadrupled my word count with this chapter alone. Whoops! :3


	3. The Demon From The Basement

A dripping sound echoes throughout the dank and dark cavern. Residing in these caverns are monsters of various different sizes and shapes. One particular monster, still alive, with a hole gushing blood out of its lumpy head and a mouth full of flies, was wandering the halls and pathways inside of the vast expanse of this place. It looked around in fear as it sobbed, sitting down near a beam of light… 

Near the barely alive Mulligan, the shady silhouette of a nude demon teenager with black hair lurked in the shadows, blood-red eyes glowing in the dark, ready to strike at any moment to finish the job. Wings spread open, the teen launched from the shadows, blasting a hot beam of his own blood towards the creature. Immediately, it exploded in a show of guts, gore, and flies, like confetti at a party. Any flies that would’ve escaped the mouth and open pores of the Mulligan were exterminated by the boiling blood.

After his beam of blood ceased firing and he closed his mouth, Azazel began coughing up some residue blood from his throat onto his hand.

“Fuck.” He raspily said. “I don’t have time for this. I’ve got to warn him.” He flew up towards a hole in the ceiling of the cave, looking for an exit in this ever-changing dungeon.

…

Isaac held a plush Pikachu near his face as he rested in his undies. Isaac’s room was cluttered and messy, with sketches and notebooks next to his bed, in case he ever felt a burst of inspiration upon waking up. But for now, he was sound asleep, his aging and obese pet cat Tammy resting on the edge of his bed, purring peacefully.

… 

The room was full of sticky cobwebs and squished, foot-long spiders, only illuminated by a window on the wall near the ceiling. The only resident in this room was Azazel, sitting against a concrete wall, resting before he left the house. 

“Ugh, damn.” The teenaged demon said, to no one in particular. “I swear, this place gets more desolate by the day. But that’s probably a good thing. Imagine if someone wandered into here.”

Little did Azazel know that, occasionally, people hiking through the forest somehow stumbled upon the abandoned home. When they entered, they would never come out to tell the tale, because they would either become monsters, cursed to forever roam the ever-changing dungeons. It was either that or to die. No one would ever be able to find their bodies, as the house was miles and miles away from civilization, seemingly surrounded by an ominous aura.

A creature started knocking on the wood of the nearby trapdoor, lying underneath the carpet of the room.

“Goddamn it,” Azazel said. He began charging his brimstone laser towards the noises, and as the Gaper came bursting from the trapdoor, he fired. The poor monster was completely obliterated by the laser, turning into smoke and dust. “I’m guessing it’s about time I look for him.” Azazel continued, gliding across the room and going out the opened window.

…

In his dreams, a six-year-old Isaac sat at the dinner table, with many children who looked just like him, except with shaved heads, and soulless, white eyes. A man with the same soulless white eyes served those sitting around the table with plates full of guts and gore.

_ “You’re running out of time.” _ The server spoke to every single one of the boys and girls this phrase. 

Running out of time? For what?

When he finally got to Isaac, he said,  _ “You’re out of time.” _

“What?” Isaac replied.

“ _ You couldn’t save me. Goodbye.” _

And the man disintegrated into dust before Isaac could get any more information about what was going on. When he looked onto his plate, he saw a plate full of eyeballs, intestines, and human hearts. Still beating, oozing with fluids.

Looking at his chest, he saw that there were many holes in his body as if surgically placed where his organs used to be. He looked around, and the same was true for all the other children, who were now bawling out in tears.

Before he passed out in pure fear, Isaac saw a vision of his mother in a poorly lit room, aged by the tides of time, and skin swollen to a grisly extent.

_ “Help!” _ the fleshy being cried.  _ “My son! Please, save me!” _

…

In the dark of the new moon night, that of which was solely brightened by the stars in the sky, Azazel flew through the sky in search of a boy. He only had a little bit of time to tell him what needed to be said. He did know the general area in which they lived (there was no way he wasn’t living somewhere in the state), but that could be quite a hassle. 

Azazel lowered his elevation and glanced through the house’s window. Sure enough, when he looked through the window, the boy’s tears were hitting a nearby tabby cat, who was making a hissing noise.

“I’m sorry Tammy. I had a really bad dream. It’s hard to control my crying when I’m sleepy.” The teenager yawned. The curly-haired boy looked out the window, which happened to be in Azazel’s direction. The demon was barely able to evade his sight and get away from the window in time.

“I’m going to have to be careful about this,” Azazel said, now sitting on a nearby tree branch. He started to wait on the tree near the window, until he saw the teenager, now clothed, wandering around the tree outside. 

…

Isaac sprung out of bed screaming, tears rolling down his eyes and somehow hitting Tammy. The nearby cat jumped off the edge of the bed, hissing and now dripping wet. When he realized that it was simply a nightmare and calmed down, he tried remembering it. Yet, for some reason, he couldn’t. Usually, his dreams were vivid and violent, but this one already seemed to fade from his mind. As he picked up the now dripping cat, he began wrapping her up with the blanket.

“I’m sorry Tammy.” Isaac yawned. “I had a really bad dream. It’s hard to control my crying when I’m sleepy.”

Isaac glanced over towards the window. He could’ve sworn he saw a quick movement from some sort of, something with red eyes. It could have been the nearby tree tapping the house. It could have been a windy night. It could have simply been a raccoon or some other varmint. However, he wanted to be completely sure, so he dressed back in his clothes from the previous day, piled next to his bed sloppily, and headed outside. He was only equipped with a dim flashlight and his own curiosity.

At first, Isaac didn’t see the red, glowing eyes of the charcoal black-skinned boy, sitting upon a tree branch, even as he heard a distorted and demonic voice.

“Hello there, Isaac McMillen.” The demon boy greeted him ominously. Isaac turned towards the source of the sound and was surprised to see what looked like a demon with his wings spread open.

“Oh, God!” Isaac moved back when he saw the teenage demon, but tripped over himself. “Wha- Who are you? How do you know who I am?” Isaac stuttered, now on the ground.

“I am named after the great demon, Azazel,” he explained, “and I’ve known your name for quite a long time. For you have a special ability, passed down from your father. You may already know of it.”

Isaac started to get back up from the ground, dusting himself off. What the actual fuck was going on? He thought that demons weren’t real, that they were superstitions, made up by a group of people from thousands of years ago. And yet, here one was now, standing right in front of him. And wait for a second! His parents had the same ability he did?

“Wait. My father knew how to do what?”

“Holy shit.” Azazel realized in horror. He truly had no idea how to even control them. “He never taught you anything about this. And you were supposed to be- no way.”

“What was I supposed to be?” Isaac questioned the demon. “Who am I?”

“You were supposed to be the hero,” Azazel said, his voice starting to tremble.

“The hero of what?”

_ "Oh, God damn it!!"  _ Azazel thought.  It seemed that he would have to explain a lot more than he thought he’d have to. He already had so little time in this realm.

“Not far from here, there is a house, a house which your family used to investigate. It held a strange artifact, which caused those who glanced at it to have the ability to fling their tears at their enemies. It was the source of your power. However, there is also a portal that has been summoning monsters, not of this world. Dangerous creatures of fecal matter and piss. They are led by an unknown force, one beyond mortal comprehension. However, there is one hope. An unsuspecting family who could harness the ability to cry would either save this world or be driven to madness.”

Isaac thought that this had to be a prank or something. It seemed too ridiculous to be true. And yet, somewhere deep down, he knew that it wasn’t fake. Isaac opened his mouth to speak, but Azazel continued.

“I thought that you had learned this a while ago, but it seems that you have a lot more to learn. We only have a little bit of time to teach you.” Azazel stated, turning around and flapping his bat wings to leave.

“Teach me what?” Isaac asked.

“How to control your tears. I’ll see you late tomorrow, probably at midnight. I don’t have time to stay here and explain these things to you right now. I’ve got more important things to do right now.”

“Wait, what’s stopping you from teaching me right now?”

But it was too late, as Azazel had already lept into the air, flying out of the backyard. Isaac jumped after him, however, grabbing onto the demon boy’s left leg, weighing him back down to the ground.

“Shit, Isaac!” Azazel said, landing a blow at the teenager’s face with his right foot. As Isaac let go of the demon boy’s leg, falling stomach first into the dirt, Azazel soon left Isaac in the dust, and by the time he had dusted himself off, he was gone.

Isaac was completely confused by what he was told that night. He always knew that his ability to shoot people with his tears was strange, but he never accepted this out of left field explanation. And then there was Azazel. Why did he just decide to leave like that?

The wind blew in the late night, wind chimes from different houses. As Isaac looked up at the sky, the now distant Azazel was still flying away. Pretty soon, Isaac would be subject to many horrific sights and things, but for now, although he was bewildered, he was also unaware.

… 

_ Deep in the basement, a father, a mother, and a daughter were traversing. Occasionally, a monster would leap from the shadows, but the father’s eyes would fill with tears, and they would soon be vanquished from this mortal realm. The mother and the father were having a conversation. By the time the conversation was over, they had arrived at their destination: a room with a book, titled “Damiano Innoxia Transcriptio Scriptor”, lying on a pedestal. _

_ “But she’s so young! Edward, I’m unsure we should be exposing our children to these- these things.” Danielle McMillen exclaimed with emotion in her voice, tears filling her eyes. _

_ “You’ve read the book,” Edward explained, picking the book up from the ground. “We’ve got little choice in the matter.” _

_ “Daddy, what are we doing?” The unaware young, red-headed toddler, Lily, asked her father. _

_ “We’re going to make you a fighter,” Edward said, opening the door stopper of a book, and getting to the last page. “Can you read this passage, sweetie?” _

_ “Alright, daddy!” Lily cheerfully said, glancing at the page. But as soon as she glanced, her eyes began to water up. _

…

A tired Judas, although thoroughly entertained, was also feeling quite sleepy. He was nearly at the end of these ramblings. What’s one more page gonna do to him? So Judas turned to the last page of his book, which was blank, other than one line.

_ “My power is diminishing, so I give it to you.” _

“Power? What po-” Judas started, but was interrupted by the small stream of tears dripping onto the pages. When he realized that the tears were coming from his own eyes, he panicked and slammed the book against the ground. His breath rapid and his body quaking in fear, Judas screamed. As the flow of tears started to stop, he passed out in his bed. 

He would later be awakened by his mother around five minutes later, but by then, he had forgotten about the incident, much like any other person who had read the passage. He knew, however, that something weird had happened to him, something that he couldn’t explain.


End file.
